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The Revised Complete Chronology of Bronze
Completely revised and expanded, Rick Lai's authoritative chronology has been heavily updated to include Lester Dent's radio scripts and new data unearthed from the recent restored Doc Savage reprint editions.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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April 23, 2025The purpose of this book is to place each of the approximately 150+ Doc Savage novels, radio plays, movie and other writing in its correct order, as it happened, not as it was written or published.
I doubt the primary author of the series, Lester Dent writing as Kenneth Robeson, considered chronology very much as he dashed off these stories. Rick Lai usually latches onto a seasonal detail in the opening pages of a novel, such as snow or leaves turning, to get a general sense of order but occasionally he candidly admits that the story does not fit into the timeline he has constructed.
I wouldn’t let a sense of temporal disorientation detract from enjoying a good Doc Savage novel.
I doubt the primary author of the series, Lester Dent writing as Kenneth Robeson, considered chronology very much as he dashed off these stories. Rick Lai usually latches onto a seasonal detail in the opening pages of a novel, such as snow or leaves turning, to get a general sense of order but occasionally he candidly admits that the story does not fit into the timeline he has constructed.
I wouldn’t let a sense of temporal disorientation detract from enjoying a good Doc Savage novel.
August 11, 2019
Lai has gone through the Doc Savage books, looking at how long they took, what the weather was like, references to untold adventures, all to put together a cohesive chronology of the Man of Bronze. Not to mention referencing the various world and US figures occasionally fictionalized in the series.
A very good job, though if you're not a fan of the books, there's no point to reading this. And on occasion, Lai's speculation about what might have happened is a bit of stretch.
A very good job, though if you're not a fan of the books, there's no point to reading this. And on occasion, Lai's speculation about what might have happened is a bit of stretch.
September 23, 2025
Call it 3.5 stars. No complaint about the content not being what I expected, that was pretty clear. And as a chronology it is fine. But still, it was pretty dry reading
November 29, 2010
This is the third edition of Rick Lai's Chronology of Doc Savage, an attempt to put into chronological order the canonical Doc Savage stories.
There are so far 3 such works out there. The first and probably most well known one is the work by Phillip Jose Farmer that appeared in his "Doc Savage: His Apocolyptic Life". This one has gone thru a couple of minor revisions, and the work is currently out of print (maybe that will be rectified soon). Rick's work is based on it, but takes the work forward. Another work is Jeff Deischer's "The Adventures of Doc Savage: A Definitive Chronology", also recently revised and now available thru Lulu.
Rick's work has gone thru 3 versions. The first came out as "Bronze Age" from Tom Johnson's Fading Shadows concern. A revised version later came out on CD from Paul McCall's Aces concern. Now we have a new revision.
This work is limited to the 'canon' of Doc Savage: the 182 pulp stories by Lester Dent and others, the Lester Dent scripted radio show, the later Doc novels by Will Murray (based on Lester Dent notes) and the solo Farmer Doc novel. Left out are the Doc comics (thankfully) and various Doc pastiches (to a degree).
The bulk of the work (250pg out of 325) is taken up by the chronology. This is not just a dry listing of the works in order, but most have info on how this work fit in, and many of this info will run for several pages.
The rest of the work is filled with several other interesting chapters.
You have one on the apocryphal adventures, which include some of the Doc pastiches, such as Doc Ardan, the recent "Evil in Pemberley House", Doc vs. Fu Manchu, Doc & the Rocketeer and more.
The next chapter deal with possible connections/crossovers with the Shadow.
Then we have some short chapters on Doc's literary output, and then a chronological checklist and an alphabetic listing of the works.
As always, an excellent work from Rick Lai and Altus Press. I have to wonder what Rick will do next??
There are so far 3 such works out there. The first and probably most well known one is the work by Phillip Jose Farmer that appeared in his "Doc Savage: His Apocolyptic Life". This one has gone thru a couple of minor revisions, and the work is currently out of print (maybe that will be rectified soon). Rick's work is based on it, but takes the work forward. Another work is Jeff Deischer's "The Adventures of Doc Savage: A Definitive Chronology", also recently revised and now available thru Lulu.
Rick's work has gone thru 3 versions. The first came out as "Bronze Age" from Tom Johnson's Fading Shadows concern. A revised version later came out on CD from Paul McCall's Aces concern. Now we have a new revision.
This work is limited to the 'canon' of Doc Savage: the 182 pulp stories by Lester Dent and others, the Lester Dent scripted radio show, the later Doc novels by Will Murray (based on Lester Dent notes) and the solo Farmer Doc novel. Left out are the Doc comics (thankfully) and various Doc pastiches (to a degree).
The bulk of the work (250pg out of 325) is taken up by the chronology. This is not just a dry listing of the works in order, but most have info on how this work fit in, and many of this info will run for several pages.
The rest of the work is filled with several other interesting chapters.
You have one on the apocryphal adventures, which include some of the Doc pastiches, such as Doc Ardan, the recent "Evil in Pemberley House", Doc vs. Fu Manchu, Doc & the Rocketeer and more.
The next chapter deal with possible connections/crossovers with the Shadow.
Then we have some short chapters on Doc's literary output, and then a chronological checklist and an alphabetic listing of the works.
As always, an excellent work from Rick Lai and Altus Press. I have to wonder what Rick will do next??
November 10, 2013
OK, this is purely a labor of love. If one is a Doc Savage fan, you have to read this book. Simply have to. It contains every bit of info, and in a totally readable way, about the great pulp hero.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews